La disparition du pilote (Aredit comic)
La disparition du pilote (The Disappearance of a Pilot) is a comic strip adaptation of The Case of the Murdered Apprentice, part of the Biggles Air Detective anthology. The comic was part of issue 108 of the Temeraire series and was published in September 1967. This is the third of four stories adapted from W. E. Johns to be carried in the Temeraire series. All were drawn by Roger Mellies. Synopsis The comic strip is the third of three stories in issue 108 and occupies pages 41 to 65. It is a largely faithful adaptation of the original Biggles story and all the characters are depicted but the violence has been toned down. Plot (Click on expand to read) The plot here follows the original closely except for a changes. There is no preambular discussion about the difficulties of policing the air. Raymond presents the case immediately. The first difference is that only Edmund Teale's uniform jacket and leave papers are found off the coast of Holland, not his dead body. Biggles doesn't call for an ordnance survey map. He asks Algy and Bertie to do a photo-reconnaissance. He doesn't call Sergeant Winskip for background information. Here he leaves Ginger in charge of the office and drives to Buckbury where he takes a walk with Winskip. Presumably this is done because it makes for more interesting drawings than lots of speech bubbles of Biggles by the phone. Biggles then rushes back to London to visit the hat shop after asking Winskip to call Ginger to tell him to meet there. The conversation with the salesgirl at the shop is almost word for word the same as the original. After studying Algy's photos, all four of them go to Buckbury. In the original, Algy is left to mind the office. At Buckbury, Biggles tells Ginger to arrange a good dinner. He then goes to see Mr Green the postmaster. The discussion with Green is the same as in the original. After sending off the telegram to Lurgens, he joins the rest of his team for dinner. Several pictures are devoted to the dinner. Bertie thinks it is a veritable feast. It is stated that the rule of the team is that they do not discuss business during meals. After dinner they proceed to Larford Hall. They do not discover Teale's haversack. On the field in the estate, they spot oil stains but do not find a cartridge case. Algy and Bertie are left to intercept Lurgens when he arrives. Biggles and Ginger proceed to interview Mrs Vanester. The conversation with her is the same. Lurgens arrives and is arrested and brought in by Algy and Bertie. In the original, he enters alone. Lurgens sits down and tamely tells his tale. The major difference here is that Teale is not dead. He has only been kidnapped. While Lurgens makes his confession to Biggles, he asks his sister to take Ginger to fetch Teale. What happened was that he had landed and Teale had approached him and asked if he had a forced landing. Teale offers to go fetch help. Obviously Lurgens couldn't allow that so he knocks him out and carries him into the house. They tie Teale to a chair and try to buy his silence. Teale refuses, so Lurgens has him locked up in a room and then dumps his jacket from his plane. So, in a major deviation from the original, there is no gunfight. Biggles is not wounded and neither is Lurgens, so he didn't die. The story ends with Biggles asking Bertie to call the local police. It is not stated what happened to Lurgens and Mrs Vanester after that. Characters The Special Air Police *Air Commodore Raymond *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Ginger Hebblethwaite *Bertie Lissie Others *Edmund Teale *Sergeant Winskip *Mr Green *Mrs Karena Vanester *Rudolf Lurgens Aircraft *Lurgens here flies a conventional high wing light monoplane. It is not refered to as a Fokker. Ships Places Visited *Buckbury, Essex *Larford Hall Mentioned Research Notes Incongruities Chronology Category:Derivative works